New campaign urges “know your BMI”

At least 1.7 million UK adults are overweight or obese but don’t know it – and millions of others can’t work it out. So says a shocking survey today from weight loss experts LighterLife to launch BMI 4 Life Fortnight – a campaign to highlight the life-and-death importance of Body Mass Index.

BMI is widely used to establish if someone is a healthy weight for their height. The 18.5 - 24.9 band is seen as healthy, while 25 + is overweight, and 30 is obese, increasing “killer” risks including stroke, heart disease and diabetes.

The nationally representative survey, conducted by BMRB, polled more than 1000 adults, and calculated the BMI of each.

The results showed that a quarter of respondents either didn’t know what BMI meant, or got it wrong.

Alarmingly, half of the total had no idea how it was measured, and three quarters, when asked, didn’t recognise that a BMI of 31 would make them obese.

When asked about their own BMI, the results got more personal….

Only one in three were “confident” they knew their BMI, and 80 per cent of these thought their BMI was “normal”. However, in reality, one in eight who thought they were normal - representing 1.7 million people – were, alarmingly, overweight.

Juliette du Plessis, Programme Director at LighterLife urged everyone to check their BMI – and raise thousands of £s for the Stroke Association charity. She said: “People can check their BMI free, and instantly, at lighterlife.com/bmi4life and for every BMI calculation made, LighterLife will donate £1 to the Stroke Association.

Juliette added: “Many just don’t realise the significance of BMI. The research showed that 36 per cent of all respondents thought ‘blood pressure’ was the most important number when it came to health dangers, with ‘BMI’ second at 30 per cent.

“But a high BMI is actually one of the main causes of high blood pressure - and losing weight can eliminate this.”

Laura Dart, Deputy Director for The Stroke Association, said: “A stroke is a brain attack and it can kill you. If a stroke doesn’t kill you, it is likely to leave you severely disabled. Being obese can increase your risk of stroke by up to a third so it is vital we all maintain a healthy body weight and a good diet.

“Body Mass Index is one measure of a healthy body weight. Knowing your BMI along with waist measurements can help to reduce the risk of the UK’s third biggest killer - stroke. Waist measurements are important as the more excess weight around the waist puts you at greater risk of health problems.”

The Stroke Association and LighterLife strongly advise people to seek advice from their doctor before embarking on any diet to reduce weight.

To calculate a BMI manually:

- Work out your height in metres and multiply the figure by itself

- Measure your weight in kilograms

- Divide the weight by the height squared (the answer to Q1)

Celebrity’s Body Mass Indexes have been estimated at the following:

Victoria Beckham
Height – 5ft 6
Weight – 6st 8
BMI - 15.3 Underweight

Dawn French
Height – 5ft 2
Weight – 14st 2
BMI – 36.2 Obese

Johnny Vegas
Height – 5ft 7
Weight – 18st
BMI – 39.46 Obese

Jennifer Lopez
Height – 5ft 6
Weight – 8st 6
BMI – 20 Healthy

Beyonce Knowles
Height – 5ft 6
Weight – 9st 9
BMI – 23.1 - Healthy